Hogwarts and The Dragon Slayer
by StainlessX
Summary: Right after sending his children off to Hogwarts, Harry goes on an Auror assignment that will bring him back to a place he once called home. Albus and Rose meet a student unlike any other.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - Dragon Boy**

Harry was staring down the train track after just saying goodbye to his two sons. He was more worried about his youngest son, Albus, because he was just starting his first year at Hogwarts. James was starting his second and was getting a kick out of his younger brother's nervousness. Ginny stood next to him with a hand on his shoulder as she looked up at him. Hermione and Ron walked up next to them to look down the tracks as well.

"Should we still be able to hear the train?" Ron asked. Harry didn't even notice until Ron spoke, but he was also hearing train. It sounded like it was getting closer. The four of them, along with the rest of the people still standing at Platform 9¾, turned to see another train arrive. This one only had one car attached to the engine. Harry's Auror training kicked in and he approached the train but didn't take out his wand. Ron told Hermione and Ginny to stay back and he joined Harry; unlike Harry, Ron took out his wand. When the door opened, a tall thin boy stumbled out. Harry actually grabbed his arm to stop him from falling. When the boy looked up at him, Harry recognized who he was.

"Kevin? Are you all right? What's going on?" Kevin was the newest Auror Harry had, joining this past summer. Kevin stood and huffed, blowing away his long black hair off of his face. He patted himself off, as if there was dust on him, but there wasn't. He smiled up at Harry and Ron.

"Hiya boss! I have urgent news from the Minister. Can you two please come with me?" Kevin said in an upbeat tone. Harry looked back at Ron – who shrugged.

"Well go ahead and tell us mate" Ron said. Kevin looked around at all the people looking back at him. He leaned in close to Harry.

"It's really something the public shouldn't hear about yet sir"

"Alright let's go" Harry said patting Kevin on the shoulder, and turning back toward Ginny and Hermione; "You'll be alright by yourselves won't you?" Ginny reassured him they'd be fine but Hermione spoke up.

"Wait what's going on?"

"Official Auror business ma'am" Kevin told her, as politely as her could, "Can't go around telling people yet" Kevin spoke with an American accent, which is why most people continued to stare when others had left. Ron cupped Hermione's face and smiled at her.

"I'll be back before supper" Ron kissed her forehead and hugged her. He ruffled his son's hair and told him to take care of his mother. Hugo nodded and smiled at his father.

"I can't go to Hogwarts, now I can't go with dad" Lily whined. Harry smiled and said goodbye to his frowning daughter. He hugged and kissed Ginny before getting on the train with Ron. Kevin joined them after a friendly smile and wave at the crowd.

The engine began to move and was now headed off after the train to Hogwarts. Inside the only car, Harry and Ron stood just inside the door. They both now looked to Kevin to explain the situation. Before he could speak, another man came out of the booth closest to them.

"Hello brother" the man said, coming out with a small smile on his face.

"Charlie?" Ron was surprised to see his brother, "What are you doing here? Run out of dragons to study?"

"Not quite" Charlie's response was rather serious. Charlie was now forty five but his physical appearance would fool others into thinking he was younger.

"What's going on Charlie?" Harry asked, noticing his serious tone.

"I'll have Kevin here explain" Charlie looked over to the boy.

"Right so I've been assigned to transport Charlie and some 'special cargo' to Hogwarts" Kevin explained, "What I've been told is that Charlie has been put in charge of a…well…" Kevin looked toward the dragon expert.

"In North America there were wizard's performing experiments on dragons. The Ministry there took care of them but needed help with the dragons that remained there. One of their experiments…" Charlie looked away, "It'd probably be better to understand if I showed you" Charlie walked to the booth across from the one he came from and knocked on it lightly.

"Alex? May we come in?" Harry or Ron didn't hear a response but the door opened. Harry saw a boy come out that looked to be around Albus' age. But he didn't look like any boy Albus' age.

"This was one of their experiments" Charlie said with a hand on the boy's shoulder. Harry and Ron were looking at, what can simply be described as a dragon boy. Small red scales replaced skin on the edges of his face. His shaggy brown hair covered most of it, along with his hazel eyes. The back of his neck had more scales, but nothing else could be seen beyond the collar of his shirt. He shyly looked up at Harry and Ron. Harry's eyes were wide with shock and Ron's mouth was agape.

"Ron, please" Charlie said, and Ron's mouth shut.

"They did this…to a kid" Harry said, trying not to sound as horrified as he was.

"There's more than just what you see" Charlie said, and before Harry could ask what he continued, "They somehow replace his lungs with a pair of dragon lungs. Causing him to –" Alex snuffed and a puff of fire emitted from his nose, "- do that." Harry had never seen anything like this in his time as an Auror. It was both fascinating and revolting to look at this child. The revolting part mostly coming from the part of the brain that would ask, _why would anyone do this to a person? A child?_

"Alex is something extremely rare and needs to constantly be under a watchful eye" Charlie said, breaking the silence that had ensued after Alex displayed what he could do. "Since the North American Ministry wanted nothing to do with him, I pulled some strings at Hogwarts and we're gonna put him there"

"Why did you need us to come along?" Harry asked, looking up at Charlie.

"Well the Minister told me you'd be at the platform and that I could pick you up on the way," Kevin took over the explaining once more, "Charlie requested that Ron come along as well"

"Is there any danger to him?" Harry asked.

"We have reason to believe that some dragon dealers have put a bounty on his head for capture" Kevin told him, "Our task is to escort him to Hogwarts, and wait for further orders from the Minister"

Harry knelt down in front of the boy and stuck out his hand. Alex looked at him warily.

"Hi there Alex. My name is Harry Potter. It's a pleasure to meet you" Alex snuffed and a puff of fire came from his nostrils. He took Harry's hand.

"Everyone knows who Harry Potter is. Even in Canada" Harry now noticed that there were scales on the back of the boy's hands as well. Like Kevin, Alex spoke with an American accent. Ron also introduced himself and too his surprise the boy knew who he was as well.

"And just when I thought you were the only famous one around here"

Alex went back inside his booth, and Charlie further explained his situation.

"From what we can tell, those are the scales of a Chinese Fireball dragon. We think they used the lungs of the same dragon they got the scales from"

"He doesn't have a tail does he?" Ron asked. Harry and Charlie both glared at him. "Sorry just a question"

"No he does not have a tail" Charlie told him.

"Do you know who did this to him? And why?" Harry asked.

"Yeah and why doesn't the Ministry in America take care of this?" Ron asked.

"The American Ministry wants nothing to do with this. Flat out called the kid an abomination. As for who and why – I have no idea. Heard the dragons had killed them all before the Ministry arrived." Charlie said.

"Does he not have any family?" Harry asked, in a rather sad tone. Charlie shook his head and explained that he was just an orphaned wizard.

"No one thought much of it when he went missing, according to the report I read" Kevin spoke up; his happy demeanour now was a serious one. When Harry asked how long Kevin had known about this, Kevin explained he had only gotten on the train a few hours ago.

"What's he gonna do at Hogwarts though? Be a student?" Ron asked.

"He's still a wizard and thus needs to be taught. I'll be there helping with all things dragon" Charlie explained.

"I reckon he'd be in Slytherin then" Ron chuckled.

"Really Ron?" Harry and Charlie both said.

"Right I guess that's not very tasteful" Ron leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

"Minerva insisted that he take place in the sorting ceremony, if he is to be a student" Charlie told them.

"Minerva? Didn't she retire last year?" Harry asked.

"Didn't you hear? The Ministry has yet to find a replacement, so until further notice she will remain Headmistress" Kevin said.

"Poor old fart." Ron said shaking his head.

"Who are you calling old?" Charlie said with a laugh.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ron frowned. Harry and Kevin had a laugh too.

Not much was said for the rest of the ride and Alex had stayed in his compartment until the sun was setting. Alex walked out of his booth, wearing a cloak over his robes. The cloak had a hood which he already had on to cover his face.

"We'll be arriving soon won't we?"

"Yes Alex, in a few minutes" Charlie responded.

Alex went back into his booth to get his things. Harry stood to wait by the door, and was joined by Ron.

"Bet you never thought you'd be coming back here, eh mate? At least not by train"

"Most certainly not" Harry said staring out the window and up at the castle that was once his school, his home, his life.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – Welcome to Hogwarts!**

The train had stopped and all the students were pouring out of it. Albus still sat in his compartment dressed in his robes and waiting for the crowd to thin out a little. The entire train ride he was ignored by his brother, who ran off to talk to his friends. He and Rose had spent the entirety of the ride together, sharing their worries about which house they would be in. Victoire even stopped by to say hello to them and she even bought them some treats to eat for the ride. Albus still had a Chocolate Frog in his pocket that he decided to save for later. Rose, who had been in her robes the entire trip, came into the compartment with a curious look on her face.

"Any particular reason you're not in a hurry to get off?" Albus snapped out of his own thoughts and worries.

"Yeah let's go" He shot up and passed Rose to walk out of the train. Waiting for him outside, holding a lamp, was a familiar smiling bearded face.

"Ah, there yer are Albus. C'mon you two, all the other firs' years are headed to the boats" Hagrid spoke to them while ushering them along the narrow path to the boats. Albus could hear all of the excited students talking and gasping and pointing upwards to something he could not see yet.

"Wow, Albus look! Just like in the pictures" Rose said as the castle that was Hogwarts came into their view. Albus almost forgot about his worries as he stared across the lake at the school.

"All right everyone on the boats! No more'n four to a boat" Hagrid shouted so as to be heard over the rambling students. Albus and Rose stepped into the same boat and were joined by their cousin, Molly Weasley. (Molly is the daughter of Percy and Audrey Weasley) She was never as close to her cousins, like Rose and Albus are, due to the fact that she is a lot like her father; even now she had a serious look on her face and her ginger hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Albus and Rose greeted her with smiles and tried talking to her about what house she wanted to be in. Molly simply said she was going to be in Gryffindor and was surprisingly much calmer than her cousins. Albus tried to calm himself by remembering what his dad had told him, while looking up at the castle.

The boats took off with a shout from Hagrid. The three cousins had a boat to themselves while the rest had filled up. The students were quieter now; they were too busy staring up at the school. Albus' attention broke away from the castle when he heard noise behind him, from the train station.

"Is that another train?" Albus asked looking back at the station.

"Probably just the train we came in on leaving" Molly explained without ever looking away from the castle.

They passed under a dark tunnel and ended up on a pebble beach. They exited the boats and Hagrid ushered them all towards Hogwarts. Up a flight of what Albus thought to be ancient stone steps, the students all stood in front of the huge oak front door. After checking to make sure everyone was here, Hagrid knocked three times on the door. Immediately the door opened revealing a round faced man wearing a plain red robe. Albus recognised Neville right away.

"Hi there Neville" Hagrid said and patted him on the back, unbalancing him.

"Hi Hagrid," Neville patted Hagrid's arm as Hagrid passed him to get to his spot at the head table in the Great Hall. Neville turned to the new students with a smile and asked them to follow him. He led them past the Great Hall, where the new students could hear plenty of chatter, and into a small chamber. Albus and Rose were sent into the far corner, and could barley see Neville over the heads of the other students.

"Well everyone," Neville said with a beaming smile, "Welcome to Hogwarts. For those who don't know," he glanced towards Ablus, but tried not to bring any attention to him. Albus was thankful Neville didn't point him out, thinking that the other kids might look down on him for knowing a teacher so well. "my name is Professor Longbottom. I'm going to ask you all to wait here while we prepare for the Sorting Ceremony. The Sorting is an important ceremony that will decide what house you will be in while you stay here. Think of your housemates as a second family, since you'll be eating, sleeping and going to classes together. The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Throughout the year houses will be awarded points for good behaviour, and lose points for bad. When the year comes to an end the house with the most points wins the house cup. So everyone should strive for each of their houses"

Neville went off into the Great Hall, and the first years began chatting amongst themselves. Albus heard a few people wonder what the Sorting was. He was surprised to hear that not everyone knew about the Sorting Hat and wondered if they were more nervous then he was.

Neville came back rather quickly and gathered the students up in single file. Guiding them to the front door of the Great Hall, he stood and waited as the line went through the doors. Neville patted Albus on the back as he passed. When everyone else was in Neville made his was to the front and placed a stool down with a pointy wizard's hat on it. Albus saw James seated at the Gryffindor table to the far left, but he wasn't paying any mind to his younger brother. Hagrid on the other hand was watching Albus closely, and he waved when Albus looked up at him. One seat was empty at the head table, which Albus assumed Neville would fill after the ceremony. Albus didn't recognise most of the people sitting at that table other than Headmistress McGonagall. He had seen her picture many times before and his father often spoke of her as a wonderful teacher. Harry also told Albus that she looked the same as she did almost twenty six years ago, except now with more gray hairs.

The hat had been singing out of its wide ripped mouth, while Albus had been looking around the room. Albus somehow noticed the ceiling last. Rose, who was behind him, poked him.

"Isn't it wicked?" she said referring, to the ceiling, "My mum said it's bewitched to look just like the sky outside"

Albus stopped starring at the ceiling when the room started to applaud. The hat had finished singing and now Neville was instructing the first years to come up once their name had been called. Albus was in the middle of the line, but Neville wasn't calling people out by their place in line. Eventually Neville called out a name Albus recognised.

"Malfoy, Scorpius! " Scorpius sat on the stool and the hat was placed on his blonde head. The hat didn't take long to decide which house to put him in. "SLYTHERIN!" it shouted and Scorpius walked over to a cheering table with a smile on his face. More names were called that Albus did not recognise and every time a table cheered. It seemed to Albus that no matter what house you were accepted into people cheered. It made the boy calmer and the words his father spoke to him echoed in his head.

"Potter, Albus!" Albus almost missed hearing his own name; he was so caught up in his thoughts. He made his way to the stool and sat. He saw his brother look up at him before the hat covered his eyes. Albus thought it was quieter inside the hat. In fact Albus didn't hear anything. His hands clenched his knees. "Not Slytherin, not Slytherin, not Slytherin…"

"Not Slytherin, eh?" said a small voice "Where have I heard that before…? Well no matter – GRYFFINDOR!"

Albus nearly jumped off of the stool when he heard the hat shout. He placed the hat back on the stool, and with a beaming smile made his way to sit at Gryffindor's table. He found an available spot in the middle after Victoire, who's a Prefect of Gryffindor, congratulated him.

Afterwards, Trevor Sinclair and Nelson Vanderbuit got into Hufflepuff, Katherine and Elena Tripe got into Slytherin, Elizabeth Valkerie got into Ravenclaw and of course Rose and Molly Weasley got into Gryffindor along with Oswald Umbertin. Neville closed his scroll, and was about to remove the stool and hat from the room when Headmistress McGonagall stood and raised a hand, telling him to stop. She addressed the students.

"Welcome everyone," she said with a small smile, "to, what I hope will be, another wonderful year at Hogwarts. Before we begin the banquet, I would like to inform you all of something."

* * *

Alex's gray cloak hood made him seem ominous as he stood just outside the Great Hall, not facing the doors. Instead he looked around at the huge hallway, and up at the tall ceiling. Harry, Ron and Kevin stood with him waiting for Charlie. Charlie had gone inside the Great Hall to see where the Sorting ceremony was at. Alex saw him approaching from his left, coming back from the back door of the Great Hall. He approached the group of men waiting for him.

"She's introducing him now"

"Introducing him? Is she mad?" Ron said.

"As if this kid won't get enough attention already" Kevin said glancing over at Alex, who pretended not to hear their conversation.

* * *

"This student is not accustom to the way we do things here. It is my hope that the house he ends up in will be able to assist him with that. He has been a victim of a horrible tragedy and it is visible upon looking at him. I expect everyone to treat him as they would any other new student here." McGonagall looked across the room with a very stern expression. The volume level rose slightly as students began to chatter about this particular student.

"What could possibly be wrong with him, that the Headmistress would have us all notified of his existence?" Albus overheard another Gryffindor student say.

The doors to the Great Hall opened and in walked two men with ginger hair, a younger man with long black hair, a boy wearing a gray cloak and Harry Potter.

"Blimey, it's our dads!" Rose said in a hushed tone.

"And is that Uncle Charlie?" Albus asked. He had only met Charlie once when he was younger; but he recognised him now from photo's he had seen. Seeing as Albus knew three of the people that walked in and that the man with long black hair was too tall to be a first year student; Albus assumed the boy in the cloak was the student the Headmistress was talking about. Harry and Ron tried to maintain a serious expression, but couldn't help but glance over at their children. A lot of the students recognised Harry; some were in awe and some were just curious as to why a famous Auror was at Hogwarts. The group of five stopped before the stool with the old pointed wizard's hat on it. McGonagall looked down at the boy with the cloak, from where she stood to address the Great Hall.

"Please remove your cloak, child" McGonagall told him sounding both stern and kind. The boy in the cloak looked up at Charlie, who patted his shoulder. With some hesitation, the boy untied the cloak first and removed it all at once, leaving him in his black robes.

There was an instant gasp from the people that first saw, and the more people that saw, the louder it got in the room. Albus found it difficult to see him fully but he could definitely make out – red skin? – and shaggy brown hair.

"Blimey are those scales?" Albus heard another student say, but he couldn't tell which table it came from. McGonagall raised her voice "Silence!" and everyone stopped talking, "We will have quiet for the last student to be sorted" McGonagall looked at the boy, "Turin, Alex" She waved her hand, gesturing for him to sit on the stool. With a little shove from Charlie, Alex walked up to the stool, and sat down before resting the hat on his head. The room was dead silent, and the Sorting Hat did not speak for what seemed like ages. Until finally…

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The room remained silent. Some people from the Slytherin table could be heard and seen holding back laughter. Most people looked toward the Gryffindor table, who were all looking at each other. Harry, Ron and Charlie were all looking at them too. Harry looked directly at his two sons – James mouth was agape –and Albus was frantically looking around at his table. No one clapped – no one cheered? It almost infuriated him. They clapped for everyone else – why not for Alex Turin? Alex, who had stood and placed the hat on the chair, was staring at the room unsure of what to do. All Albus could think about was how good it felt to be accepted by a cheering table and so he stood and clapped as loud as he could. Everyone looked at him and he kept clapping – eventually turning a little red from all the attention. James was the next to stand and clap and cheer; followed by Victoire and then Rose and then the rest of the Gryffindor table. Alex looked over at Charlie unsure of what to do. Charlie with a small smile gestured from him to walk over to the table. Alex walked as everyone continued to cheer; he took the open spot that Albus made next to himself. Rose and Albus were on either side of Alex when they sat down. Harry was looking over at Albus with a big grin on his face. McGonagall had announced the banquet to begin and the Great Hall was alive with chatter once more. The Gryffindor table went on as if there wasn't a boy with scales at their table. Alex looked around at all of them now, pleasantly eating, then down at his own plate – which was now full.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Albus said then continued to take a bite of a lamb chop from his plate. Alex simply nodded and was drooling slightly as he stared at the food. Rose, who was sitting next to him, glanced over as she ate; looking at all the fine red scales that outlined Alex's face. When Alex finally started eating, he ate quickly and devoured everything on his plate. People looked at him, more shocked by the sudden lack of food than his scales. Alex grinned shyly then let out a loud burp, making everyone laugh.

* * *

"You're mad woman" Harry said to Minerva McGonagall. Ron, Kevin, Charlie and himself were each given a spot at the staff table. Harry sat next the Headmistress.

"Let's not talk about this now Potter. We'll discuss it later in my office" Minerva said putting a piece of roasted chicken into her mouth, "Besides he's doing just fine thanks to your boy"

Harry looked over in time to see Alex burp and everyone laugh. Harry grinned – feeling a great amount of pride for Albus and the great kindness he had just shown.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 – Gryffindor's Newest**

The meal passed with laughs, friendly chatter and gossip about the last student to become a member of Gryffindor. Plenty of sweets and desserts, such as apple pie, chocolate éclairs, ice cream and pudding, were now on the table but most students were too full to eat anymore. Alex was wolfing down pastries while the other new Gryffindor students, who were all sitting around each other, talked about themselves. Oswald Umbertin was in the middle of talking about his family. He looked like an average boy his age with short brown and hair and brown eyes.

"I'm the first in the family to go to Hogwarts"

"Are you Muggle born?" asked Valerie Lebane. She had previously explained that she was born to a Muggle and a witch but was raised in the wizarding world. She was thin and taller then some of the boys. She had neck length black hair and blue eyes.

Oswald shook his head "No no. My father's side are wizards but most of them decided to live as Muggles." The rest of them looked at Oswald as if he had a very large toad on his head. He continued, "One of my uncles got accepted once though he didn't end up coming."

"Why would anyone turn down Hogwarts?" Xavier Neilson asked looking across the table in shock. Xavier had three parents; two dads and a mom who were all wizards. He had a bit of trouble explaining that to everyone. Xavier said he looked like his mother, having a thin face, pale black hair and brown eyes but had his father's olive skin.

"Well he was accepted the year Voldemort took over the school so -"

Gwen Arova gasped and everyone turned to her with a confused look. Gwen had curly black hair and dark brown eyes. She had a chubby face which Albus found to be out of place on top her small frame.

"Aren't we not suppose to say his name?" she asked with a worried expression. Valerie, who was sitting next to her, giggled and patted Gwen on the back. Oswald held back his laughter to explain.

"That old taboo was dropped when - well when Albus' dad defeated Voldemort" Oswald gestured towards Albus.

"Woor mester puttorz swon?" Alex said facing Albus with a pastry in his mouth. Albus stared back at him with a raised eyebrow. Once Alex swallowed his food he repeated himself.

"You're Mr. Potters' son?"

"Oh. Yes I am." Albus answered. Albus had never really heard anyone refer to his father as mister, especially a person his own age.

Alex smiled and said "That makes sense"

"How about you, Alex?" asked Jacqueline Kalstern who was sitting on the other side of Gwen, "Where did you grow up?"

Jacqueline was a Muggle-born but explained that the year she found out she was a witch she taught herself how to fly a broom. She told everyone she grew up on a farm so no one ever caught her flying.

"I grew up in Toronto" was all Alex said. Everyone looked at him, expecting more, but Alex didn't realize until he finished another pastry, "Canada"

"Ooooh" now they all understood.

"Do your mum and dad live there? Or did they come with you?" Valerie asked.

Alex shrugged, "I guess they do still live there" He grabbed a bowl of pudding and put a spoonful in his mouth.

"What do you mean?" Albus asked with furrowed brows.

"I never knew my parents. Grew up in an orphanage" Alex told them without looking up at them; not out of nervousness, he was just more interesting in his pudding at the moment.

"Is that where you learned to talk so funny?" Gwen asked.

"Gwen!" Jacqueline said in a stern tone. "What?" Gwen responded. Alex laughed.

"Everyone talks this way where I'm from"

"Alright everyone, quiet down" Headmistress McGonagall was standing in front of her podium, addressing all the students in the Great Hall. "Just one announcement before you all go to your rooms. Many of you know that I retired last year, but due to the Ministry being unable to find a fit replacement I have remained. But I am only here as acting Headmaster and you all will most likely have a new one by the end of this year. And of course, let us finish the banquet with the school song" McGonagall flicked her wand, signalling everyone to begin.

_Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald,  
Or young with scabby knees  
Our heads could do with filling,  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest,  
And learn until our brains all rot_

All the new students who hadn't known the song before had sung it now like they'd been practising for years. Despite magically knowing the lyrics, everyone still sang it their own way.

At the song's end McGonagall smiled and applauded everyone before stepping away from the podium. Prefects were now gathering the first years to show them the way to their house's rooms. Albus had almost forgotten that his father was just sitting up at the head table.

"Hey Rose go on without me. I'll see you up there ok?" Albus said without even waiting for a response and walked against the crowd to get to the head table.

"Albus!" Rose reached out but missed him. Albus had already made it to the far end of the table and was walking up the steps to the head table.

"Dad!" Albus said when he got close enough to Harry. With a grin Harry welcomed his son with a pat on the head; he figured a hug might be too embarrassing.

"Are you and Uncle Ron staying for long?"

"We don't really know yet" Harry said, still with a grin on his face.

"What?" Albus asked with furrowed brows.

"Oh – it's nothing" Harry waved off the question.

"Albus!" Victoire had walked up to the head table, "Hi Uncle Harry, hi Uncle Ron" she waved politely then turned her attention back to Albus, "Come on, we got to go. Everyone else is tired." Albus nodded and as he walked away he waved goodbye to his father, who waved back; still with the grin on his face.

Since almost everyone else had already made it to their rooms, the walk up the shifting marble staircases was a quiet one other than the conversation Alex, Rose and Albus were having.

"I'm so full" Albus said with a hand to his stomach.

"Really? I think I could go for another chocolate" Alex said. Albus, remembering his train ride, reached into his pocket.

"Here" Albus offered him the Chocolate Frog he had saved. Alex took it with gratitude.

"What's this?" Alex said holding a glittering card with a picture of a brown haired witch on it.

"Their collectable cards; comes with each frog" Albus explained.

"Hermione Granger?" Alex read the name out loud while looking at the card. Albus and Rose let out a chuckle making Alex look at them with a confused expression.

"That's my mum" Rose explained.

"Wow cool!" Alex exclaimed, "So your last name's Granger?"

"No my last name is Weasley. You must have met my father since he accompanied you"

"Wow!" Alex said, "What a huge coincidence, meeting both of you! Wait…it is a coincidence right?" Alex asked with a rather serious face. Rose and Albus laughed.

"Of course it is!" they both said, still laughing. Alex chuckled a bit too before biting into the frog. They had eventually made it to a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink dress.

"Password?" she asked.

"Blast-Ended Skrewt" said Victoire. The portrait opened and everyone went into the Gryffindor common room. Victoire showed the new students where their rooms were – all the new students shared one room with 3 bunk beds in them. The boys entered their room and they chose the beds closest to their trunks. The boys changed into their pyjamas except for Alex who lay on the top bunk in his robes. The other boys noticed and looked at each other.

"Uh, you can get changed Alex. It's your room too" Xavier said.

"Yeah we won't stare or nothin'" Liam said.

"Speak for your self" Oswald said.

"What?" "Oswald!" Albus and Xavier spoke at the same time in cautious tones.

"What? I just think its interesting is all. Aren't you guys curious about it?" Oswald asked.

"Well yeah." Xavier admitted, "But I wouldn't want people starin' at me, if I was in his position"

"Alex?" Albus stood on the ladder that leads to Alex's bed, "Oh. He's asleep"

Xavier sighed, "Good. I hope he didn't hear you" He spoke to Oswald, who made a face back at him. They all climbed into their beds, Albus taking to one beneath Alex, Oswald took a bottom bunk with Xavier above him, and Liam got one to himself taking the top bunk.

They all fell asleep almost instantly.

* * *

Alex awoke in the dark room not knowing what time it was. In a sleepy haze he climbed down from his bed and out of the room. The common room was lighter due to the moon beaming in through the window. Alex sat in front of the fireplace and took a deep breath. Fire erupted from his nostrils and his breath guiding it to the wood sitting in the fireplace. The common room now had an orange glow to it. Alex lay down in front of the flames and closed his eyes; drifting off to sleep.

In the morning he would wake up before everyone else, climb back into his bed, and pretend he spent the night there.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Fire Hazard**

The headmaster's office had not changed at all it seemed, except for the addition of pictures of the most recent headmasters. Harry, Ron, Charlie, Kevin, and Headmistress McGonagall had just arrived here after leaving the Great Hall. Minerva stepped behind her desk and faced the four of them without sitting down. She flicked her wand and a folder flew into her hands. She opened it, and examined it for a moment before speaking.

"'Transformed into a hybrid of human and dragon'. How is this possible? Some form of dark magic?" She did not look up from the file.

"It's what the American Ministry believes." Charlie said.

"Don't Muggles perform similar operations? Switching out organs I mean" Kevin said. Charlie shook his head.

"What you're talking about would leave scars on his skin and he has none"

"You've checked have you?"Ron asked

"He had an examination at St. Mungo's that I took apart in since I was the only one there who knew anything about dragon anatomy" Charlie explained.

"How many people know about him?" Harry asked.

"Soon the whole county will." Kevin said," The Ministry has tried to keep the story from getting out but now that he's here there are no guarantees"

"He'll make headlines for sure" Ron said.

"We'll be doing our best here to keep him safe" Minerva said and looked toward Charlie, "A room has been prepared for you in the teacher's quarters"

"What about us?" Harry asked.

"Well what about you, Mr. Potter?" Minerva answered.

"We were assigned to protect the boy"

"We were actually assigned to get him here and await further orders – which I suspect will arrive by owl at some point" Kevin explained.

"I suggest you all go rest in Hogesmeade tonight" Minerva told them.

"We'll be back tomorrow then" Harry said. They all said their goodbyes and the men made their way out of the office. Harry glanced up at his son's namesakes before leaving.

Albus was sitting in the Great Hall by himself with a book and scroll in front of him. Glancing between the two he would sometimes scratch something down in ink. Classes were over for the day and Albus was one of the few in the Great Hall. Aggravated he closed the book shut and buried his face in his palms.

"What's the matter?" Albus heard a voice and lifted his head. Rose was now sitting across from him. He waved without speaking and re-opened his book.

"Is that for Potions? I don't think it's fair that Professor Dalren, would make you write a scroll on Boil-Cure Potion just for not getting it your first day of class"

"Everyone else didn't mess it up as bad as I did" Albus admitted never looking up at Rose.

"Well if you need some help, just ask" Rose said, "Where's Alex?"

Albus looked up at her, "He told me he had to talk with Uncle Charlie, but that was nearly an hour ago."

"Have you seen our dads around? I heard some older kids talking about Aurors around the school today."

"No I haven't seen them" Albus turned his attention back to his books, "Where did you go after classes anyway?"

"Library, wanted to look up something"

Albus looked at her in shock "I don't think I'll ever understand how you find reading fun"

"Apparently my mum was the same way" Rose said with a small smirk, "What do you think of our professors anyway?"

"Well I don't like Dalren very much" Albus admitted.

Rose laughed, "Well of course but what about Professor Odette? I like her, she's really nice." Albus agreed. Their Transfiguration professor was an Animagus who turned from a swan into her actual form in the beginning of class.

"Oh and what about Professor Sulo? It was brilliant when he set himself on fire" Albus laughed remembering the class' (and his own) shock and awe.

"Oh look there's Alex" Rose said gesturing towards the front of the Great Hall. She waved him over to them. He sat next to Albus with a miserable and tired look on his face.

"Are you alright?" Rose asked.

"Yeah," Alex nodded and rubbed his eye, "Just hungry. When do we get fed?"

"Shouldn't be too long now" Albus told him.

"What were you doing with Uncle Charlie?" Rose blurted.

"Oh…just dragon stuff…" Alex seemed uncomfortable.

"So those are dragon scales? From what I've researched they seem to be from a Chinese Fireball"

"Rose!" Albus said with a stern tone.

"Oh! I'm sorry" Rose said, "I just got curious is all"

"It's ok…" Alex said, avoiding looking at Rose, "They are from a Chinese Fireball"

"Umm…how did you get them?"

"Rose!" Albus said again.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" Rose said sounding innocent. Alex hesitated and both Albus and Rose waited expectantly.

"Charlie said I shouldn't tell anyone"

"That's probably for the best" Albus said glaring at Rose, as if to say 'Drop it already'.

"I have to go check if there's an owl for me. See you guys at dinner" Alex waved and left in quite a rush.

"I can't help it. I just have to know how that happened to him" Rose said.

"It's not really any of our business Rose" Albus told her.

"Alright, alright…"

They heard yelling coming from outside the Great Hall. It sounded like a child, so it wasn't a professor yelling at a student. It also sounded violent.

"You don't think…?" Rose looked at Albus who was thinking the same thing. They both went to go check out the noise. Outside was a crowd of students, all turned to watch the center of the screaming.

"I said leave me alone!"

"Come on, I just asked you a question"

"Yeah, it's a real simple question"

"Shut up!"

Albus weaved his way through the crowd to get to the front. Oddly enough his suspicions were correct. Two older boys from Slytherin were pacing around a red scaled boy from Gryffindor. Alex stood with his head hung; his fists were clenched and he was visible shaking. The Slytherin boys were obviously older, just based on their size, and were intimidating to look at.

"Why don't you do something about it, dragon boy?"

"Careful Sam, maybe he can breath fire" The taller one with short blond hair laughed. Alex stopped shaking and seemed to calm down. Albus stood still, not knowing what to do.

"So is that it? You want to see some fire?" Alex asked, his voice sounded dark and filled with anger, "Fine!" Alex inhaled quickly then suddenly before Albus could blink the taller Slytherin boy was covered in flames. Everyone around started to scream and run away. Albus still stood there, in utter shock of what he'd just seen. Suddenly someone grabbed him and started to pull him away. He turned and saw Rose, her red hair in disarray across her face and – were those tears? As Albus was guided by Rose he turned back to see Alex still standing next to a rolling pack of flaming robes. He thought he saw tears on his face too, although his expression was entirely different from Rose's. Before he was dragged out of sight Albus saw some professors come and extinguish the flames; one of them grabbed Alex and pulled him away.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 – Making Headlines**

Rose had run, pulling Albus the whole time, to the Gryffindor common room. Many other scared Gryffindor students ran along side them. Rose was glad someone else was there to say the password because she couldn't catch her breath. Even when Albus was yelling at her to stop she couldn't speak. She finally stopped running and collapsed on a cushioned chair, curling into a ball. Albus grabbed her arm and turned her to face him.

"What – was – that?" He asked panting between words. Rose shook her head.

"I-I don't know" She was breathing heavily.

Oswald walked into the room, carrying some books in his arms. He looked around the common room in confusion; all the students looked terrified. When his glanced found Albus and Rose he walked over to them.

"Hey guys…what's goin' on?" Rose pulled her knees closer to herself. Albus answered with a shaky voice.

"Uhh…we just saw – Alex he – he burned another student"

"Was he practising an Incendio spell?" Oswald chuckled "Or did he breathe it?"

Albus nodded. Oswald looked shocked, "You know I was just joking about that last bit right?" Albus nodded again, "Bloody hell…"

"Hey guys did you hear?" Liam came running into the common room from the hall, "Alex just scorched a Slytherin student" He was chuckling. When Liam saw no one else laughing, he frowned.

"Who died?"

"Probably that Slytherin student that Alex 'scorched'" Oswald said quoting Liam.

"Oh no he's fine – or he will be at least" Liam explained, "I just wished I coulda saw it"

"How could he be fine? He was on fire!" Rose exclaimed.

"Professors got to him in time" Liam waved off her concern. There was a dull banging noise that made most of the students in the common room look around to find its source.

"Rose!"

The scream came from outside the common room; on the other side of the picture frame. The fat lady in the pink dress could be heard saying something but the exact words were difficult to catch.

"I was a student here like twenty years ago! How could you not remember me? My name's Weasley. Ronald Weasley!"

Everyone in the common room turned and looked at the only person with the Weasley's famous red hair. Rose got up from her cushioned chair and went to open the door for her father. When the fat pink lady vanished from Ron's view and was replaced with his daughter's frowning face, he instantly fell to his knees and hugged her.

With a sigh of relief he released Rose, "I'm so glad you're alright"

"You heard about what happened?"

"Yeah, Uncle Harry is on his way to help Alex now"

"Help him? But he –" Rose paused, titled her head and looked at her father strangely, "Dad…were you crying?" Ron instantly stood and wiped his sleeve quickly under his eyes and answered, "No"

* * *

Alex stared at his shoes as Professor Dalren dragged him away from the scene of the crime. His hair hid most of his face and tears. Dalren took long strides towards the Headmaster's office in silence but the expression on his face would make anyone passing by think he was furious. Dalren's robe made swishing sounds and his hair billowed back slightly he was moving so fast. Some other professors, Alex thought he saw Professor Sulo, had extinguished the fire that had consumed the tall blond Slytherin student.

Once they had made it to the confines of the Headmaster's office, Dalren shut the door and turned to Alex.

"You just had to burn him didn't you?" To Alex's surprise, he didn't sound angry, just annoyed as if it was an inconvenience. Alex stood there and said nothing, just clenched his jaw tightly. Headmistress McGonagall, who was sitting at her desk, stood at the sudden disruption.

"What is the meaning of this?"

"There has been an incident with Mr. Turin here" Dalren ushered Alex closer to McGonagall while walking behind him, "With Mr. Flint no less"

McGonagall gasped, "You don't think…?"

"Knowing Flint? Probably" Dalren rolled his eyes. Alex looked up at Dalren, then over to McGonagall and back again in confusion. Professor Sulo had entered the office next with a serious demeanour instead of his usual care-free one.

"Good news the little bastard will live" Sulo said causing McGonagall to give him a dirty look. Sulo cocked an eyebrow as if to ask 'What?' then he turned his head and noticed Alex, "Oh there's a child present. Excuse my language then"

"Little bastard? Wait what am I missing?" Alex asked, glancing between the adults in the room.

"Yes Mr. Sulo I too feel like I'm missing something. Last time I checked we did not refer to students in such a manner" McGonagall spoke with a stern tone while glaring at the Charms professor.

"He has no burns on his skin. And I haven't taught any sort of charm that could do that unless they picked it up in D.A.T.D.A.(dat-da)"

"And you think these students shouldn't know about how to protect themselves from fire?" A fourth adult came into the room. He was wearing a simple black robe, with a white collared shirt and tie, the tie being black and green. To Alex's surprise he spoke with an American accent. Sulo greeted him with an unfriendly glare and Dalren welcomed him with a simple nod of the head.

"Professor Heston, tell me you did not do such a thing?" McGonagall sounded outraged. Heston shook his head and laughed, McGonagall sighed and Sulo rolled his eyes.

"Dirty snake" Heston stopped laughing.

"Filthy badger" They glared at each other for a moment. Alex sensed the bitterness between them went far back into their pasts.

"Enough you two. Heston why are you here?" If it was even possible Alex thought he saw McGonagall's face tense in anger even more than it already was.

"On behalf of Mr. Flint of course. The school's rules clearly dictate expulsion when a student injures another"

"Flint's fine" Sulo rolled his eyes.

"Well there's bound to be psychological damage to consider" Heston said with a devilish smirk.

"He's not going to be expelled Mr. Heston" McGonagall wiped the smirk off of his face.

"Suspended?" McGonagall shook her head.

"Can I make him clean my office?" She shook her head again. "Are you sure because it sure could use it"

"No Mr. Heston. Now please leave this disciplinary action to me" McGonagall finally said.

"Alright then, can't say I didn't try" He gave a friendly wave goodbye. Everyone watch and waited for him to leave before speaking again.

"I'm so confused" Alex said, staring at the door after Heston closed it behind him.

"Don't worry about him he's just a little shit disturber"

"Mr. Sulo I'm getting tired of warning you!" McGonagall raised her voice.

"Yes Headmistress"

With a long sigh McGonagall sat down and turned her attention toward Alex. She gestured for him to come closer to the desk.

"As unfortunate as this sounds Mr. Turin we suspect Mr. Flint, the boy who antagonised you, to have been influenced to do so for the sake of getting a reaction" Alex furrowed his brow but looked more hurt than confused, "His father reports for the Daily Prophet and Mr. Weasley and Mr. Potter had suspected him to try and get information on you through his children – both of which go here"

"Why…?" Alex looked at his feet as he spoke.

"They wish to exploit your condition to sell papers I presume" McGonagall sounded annoyed.

"Why am I not being punished?" Despite having heard Flint purposely drove Alex to attack him, Alex still felt ashamed of his actions. It was mostly from the way everyone screamed when they saw what he could do. It was from seeing them all run away. It was from seeing Albus and Rose run away.

"You'll serve detention for your actions which Mr. Weasley will oversee" Dalren raised his hand and opened his mouth as if to say something but McGonagall's glare stopped him, "Detention is everyday after dinner until nine o'clock starting tomorrow. Dismissed"

The professors bowed their heads and turned to leave but Alex didn't move. McGonagall stared at him.

"Is there something else Mr. Turin?" There was plenty else but Alex didn't know how to say it.

"No Headmistress…" He turned to follow the professors who paused momentarily when they heard McGonagall speak again. Outside of the office the three of them stood in one of the large marble corridors. Dalren looked down at Alex, "Would you like to come with us to the Great Hall for dinner?"

Alex glanced up at him for a moment then stared down at his shoes, "I think I'm just going to go up to bed…" He turned away and started walking before either professor could answer. But he wasn't going to sleep in the Gryffindor tower tonight. The thought of facing them all made him cringe.

* * *

Harry stood in front of the ugly stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's office. He had a guess at a few passwords but nothing worked. He even tried to talk to the gargoyle but it didn't respond. It wasn't until the Headmistress came out of the office that Harry had a chance to get in.

"What does this concern Mr. Potter?" Minerva asked as she guided Harry back into her office. She didn't even walk all the way to her desk just a few feet from the stairway.

"I sent Kevin down to the Daily Prophet and he sent me back an early copy" Harry pulled a folded Daily Prophet from behind his back. The headline read 'Dragon boy at Hogwarts. Attacks student'. Minerva sighed and took the paper to examine the article.

"It wasn't written by Mr. Flint"

"Of course not, that'd be too obvious" Harry said with slight annoyance in his voice, "Kevin couldn't get him to talk either"

"I can't wait to get all the owls from worried parents tomorrow" Minerva said as sarcastically as she could. She turned her head at the sudden noise that came from down the stairway. To both her and Harry's surprise a girl came into the room. She had long blonde hair and wore her student uniform with Slytherin colours.

"How did you – " Minerva started but the girl had already begun to answer.

"The gargoyle let me in, Headmistress" She pointed back at the stairway. Minerva looked back at Harry who shrugged then she looked back at the girl.

"What did you come to see me for, Miss…" Minerva waited for a name.

"I'm Bethany Flint, Headmistress. The boy that got attacked today, I'm his sister. I um – " Bethany sniffled and began to get teary eyed, "I know why my brother started to bother Alex"

Minerva approached the girl, "Please explain yourself Miss. Flint"

"Our father asked me to find out what I could –" Bethany let out a sob but continued, "about Alex, but I told him I didn't want to –" Another sob, "So my brother, Marcus he –" Now Bethany began to sob uncontrollably. Minerva moved to put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder and looked up at Harry. Harry nodded and left them alone to talk, standing outside with the gargoyle while he waited.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 – Making a friend**

Alex sat on the window ledge in the owl tower staring outside. One of the owls sat next to him. Alex frowned at the owl and it hooted before flapping away to one of the many nests perched on parallel shelves. He turned back to the rising sun and noticed some students walking back into the school. Hufflepuff students, as far as he could tell, going for a morning stroll. Alex had actually managed to sleep here all night without anyone finding him. And the owls didn't mind the curled up body on the floor. Alex heard footsteps behind him so he turned to face the noise. Albus walked in looking as his feet; hadn't noticed Alex yet. He was only a few feet away when he looked up and realized Alex was sitting there, staring at him. He stood there for a moment and the two boys stared at each other. Alex couldn't make out what Albus was looking at; Alex, his scales or the monster Albus had seen yesterday? And breathing fire was only a minor trick…

"You know that boy you burned?" Alex nodded, "They say he only did it so his father could get you in the Daily Prophet"

"Is that so?" Alex feigned disinterest and looked back out the window. Albus walked over to an owl and tied a scroll to its ankle. Although it didn't need his help, Albus picked the owl up and walked it over to the window. With his arm extended the owl flew off into the horizon. He didn't speak until the owl was out of sight.

"You really scared Rose, you know?" Alex knew.

"So what?" Alex shifted his head down just enough so his hair blocked Albus' face from view. His eyes stared to well up with tears.

"Maybe you should apologize. I know she'd appreciate it"

Alex got up to walk away and almost made it to the door before Albus called out to him.

"You don't have to you know. Just a suggestion…but I wanted to say…I'm sorry. I feel like I should've helped you but I just didn't know what to do."

Alex froze from shock. Felt cold but oddly his chest swelled. And he started to sob. Alex cursed himself under his breath.

"Hey…are you…alright?"

"Dammit…" Alex sniffled and wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his robe. Alex felt his face contort to something even worse than how it normally looked. He kept his sleeve against his face and tried to calm down so he didn't hear Albus walk up behind him. Albus patted him on the back.

"You really impressed Liam by the way. He keeps saying how that Slytherin had it coming for trying to piss you off"

Alex was surprised when he began to laugh. And once he started laughing he couldn't stop. His body shook between sobs and cackles. Even Albus started to chuckle from seeing Alex laugh so hard. When he finally calmed down Alex removed his sleeve from his face.

"You wanna get something to eat Dragon Boy?" Alex frowned, "Too soon?"

"Little bit" Albus laughed and shrugged.

"I feel like you deserve a cool nickname. We'll come up with something"

"Is it still breakfast? I'm starving"

They talked all the way to the Great Hall. Few students were still there and they all looked at the Dragon Boy. Alex didn't really care though. He was enjoying time with his new friend.

* * *

It had only been yesterday since Alex attacked that Flint boy from Slytherin but it was as if everything had gone back to like it was before. Well not quite like before. Instead of being an odd outcast, Alex had become famous amongst Hogwarts students. Rose even heard someone say his actions were heroic. How? How is hurting someone heroic? Not just hurting them but setting them on fire? That they breathe? This whole thing just seemed a little backwards to Rose. She hadn't talked to Alex all day despite his greetings. Albus even tried to get them talking but Rose just had to walk away. He scared her. He isn't a hero.

Rose was sitting in the library with a book in front of her but not reading it since her mind was so caught up in the aftermath from yesterday. _Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them_, the only book she'd been able to find in this library regarding dragons; more specifically the Chinese fireball. But of course there was nothing in here about human-dragon half-breeds. Alex is one of a kind. Rose thought that maybe her mother would want to write a book on him…

"Rose?" She peeked her head up at the sound of her name, from feign reading and looked around; "Behind you" Rose was startled to hear that; even though Alex spoke in a meek tone.

"Don't sneak up on me Alex!" Rose said with a huff. He apologised quietly, his head hung low. He reminded Rose of a puppy she once saw; which is odd given his bestial features.

"I know you might not want to talk to me but I came to apologise…" Alex said, still staring at his feet, "I realised I never did apologise for scaring you yesterday…So I'm sorry…"

Now all Rose could see was that puppy, and he wasn't even looking up at her. Such a sweet innocent thing…that could breathe fire.

"I guess - since you said it so nicely – that I can accept your apology"

Rose could see a smile creep onto the part of his face she could see.

"Maybe…" Then he paused, looked around the empty library, "Umm…"

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe I could explain…what I am…so you're not as scared maybe…My…Someone once told me that people are afraid of what they don't understand…" Alex spoke, no longer staring at his feet but still not looking directly at Rose.

Rose found it to be an intriguing offer, since she couldn't find a book that could tell her anything.

"I thought Uncle Charlie didn't want you to tell anyone?" Rose wondered why she would ask that if she wanted to know.

"I don't think he'll mind if I share a little bit of information" Alex walked over to the chair across from Rose and sat down. Rose stared at him waiting for him to start his story, but he remained silent.

"Well…"

"Hmm?" He looked up at her, "Oh sorry I thought you were going to ask questions"

"Alright let's do it that way. How'd you get those scales?" Rose only realised she should probably ease in with other questions when she saw the horrified look on Alex's face. She thought she saw some of his scales begin to pale.

"So-Someone gave them to me" Alex whole body cringed as he spoke. Rose knew she probably should have stopped there but her thirst for knowledge knocked another question out of her mouth.

"How?" Rose spoke in a hush tone; starting to feel the fear.

"Some-some sort of magic. With sharp cold wands. I'm not entirely sure. Charlie keeps telling me it must have been some form of dark magic" Alex voice was shaky; it made Rose feel even more scared then him mentioning dark magic.

"I've never heard of that kind of dark magic, not even in the stories of…You Know Who"

"You mean Voldemort?" Rose didn't know why hearing that name made her startle. Most likely because she was already scared and was now thinking of the horror stories she had read about that old dark wizard.

"Yes. I just got into the habit of calling him that after reading so much about him" Someone wrote a book about him, and the Battle of Hogwarts, someone Rose knew her mother didn't like, what was her name…?

"Your parents knew him right? I mean they helped Mr. Potter kill him right?" Rose nodded but her parents never really told her much about their experience with the dark wizard which is why she turned to the books. They got mad at Rose a few times for persistently asking them questions about it.

"Hey guys!" Albus said a little too loudly and his voice echoed. Somewhere they heard someone shush. Albus sat down and Rose knew her question time was over. Probably for the best.

"I need help with the homework for History of Magic. I can't find the right page in the book"

Rose pointed out the page on Albus Dumbledore, who was the subject of their first essay. Despite having his name, Albus Severus Potter knew nothing of his name sake other than he was a great wizard and headmaster. They continued on homework until dinner and sat together until Alex had to go to detention.

Rose still had that image in the back of her head, of Alex breathing fire, but it was no longer associated with fear. Instead she found it fascinating. Next time she'll have to ask how he can do that.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 – Its Professor…**

"How about Scarlet?"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Sounds too girly"

"Hmm…you've got a point" Albus put a finger to his chin and made a pondering face. Alex walked beside him as they made their way to the greenhouse for their first Herbology class. Albus had been suggesting nicknames for Alex since 'Dragon Boy' struck out. 'Red', 'Fire-starter', 'Flame' had been a few suggestions that had been made just yesterday. Alex had said none of them really fit. Alex had also tried to think of a nickname for Albus, but had yet to say any of his suggestions; was waiting until he knew he had a good one.

They arrived at the greenhouse that their class was in. Rose was already there standing close to the entrance. When she noticed the two boys walk in she waved them over.

"Hey Rose. Where's Neville?" Albus asked

"_Professor Longbottom_ went to go get some fertilizer. Looks like today's class we'll be tending to the plants"

Professor Longbottom came out from behind some tall plants carrying a large sack. He put it down and clapped his hands together to dust them off. He greeted everyone with a large smile and began instructing the class.

"Alright everyone. In order for you to get acquainted with this greenhouse and everything inside of it today we will be fertilizing. Which is a key part of taking care of plant-life. Now who can tell me what's the best fertilizer to use?"

Everyone was silent. Rose looked around at everyone before raising her hand. Alex bent his head so his hair covered his eyes in anticipation for the answer which he knew.

"Isn't it a matter of opinion?" Rose said after Longbottom pointed to her.

"You're absolutely right Rose. A point for Gryffindor" Rose beamed and Valerie gave her a thumbs up and a wink, "Today we will be using Mooncalf dung although we usually use Dragon dung but I seem to have forgotten to restock"

"Think you can spare some Alex?" One of the Slytherin kids spoke up causing the rest of them to laugh. Alex saw that joke coming but it still made him cringe and sink his head even lower.

"Well aren't you quite the ballsy little one Kain," Longbottom spoke up, "Considering what Alex did to your fellow Slytherin the other day. One point from Slytherin"

The Slytherin stopped laughing; Alex wasn't sure if it was because of him or because they were afraid to lose more points. Longbottom continued with his lesson and gave each student a bucket of dung and pointed them to a spot they could fertilize. For the rest of the class the students continued to fertilize the greenhouse and Longbottom would walk around and instruct them how to properly do so.

"No Liam don't dump it all on the plant, dump it around the base"

"No need to wear gloves today Jacqueline; its just dung. You can wash your hands afterwards"

When Longbottom walked by Albus he patted him on the back, approving of the way he spread the fertilizer around. Longbottom also gave considerable praise to Alex who was showing extreme care for every plant he fertilized. Alex didn't know if it was just to boost his spirits or if it was actually a good job.

When Longbottom dismissed the class, most of the girls ran to the lavatories to wash their hands with Jacqueline leading them. Most of the boys were putting their hands in each others faces to show how gross they smelled. Albus, Rose and Alex just used the hose in the greenhouse to wash their hands then went off to D.A.T.D.A. class.

* * *

"We've been here for two days! Does the Minister not know how to send an owl?" Ron yelled. Harry and Ron had been staying in Hogsmeade since they arrived with Alex the night of Sorting ceremony. Their charge had even made headlines yesterday, alarming the parents of Hogwarts' students and making his presence know to virtually everyone in the wizarding world. Harry was reminded of his childhood; how he was always addressed as The Boy Who Lived and now Alex will always be addressed as The Dragon Boy.

Harry and Ron were sitting out at the Quidditch stands staring out at the empty field. Harry was lost in nostalgia while Ron went on complaining about how the Minister hadn't sent any new orders concerning Alex. Harry assumed the Minister was overwhelmed by people telling him how to deal with the situation. Harry didn't mind being back here although he did miss Ginny and Lily. Ron was still going on about something when Harry noticed someone walking on the field.

"Uh Ron…" He didn't seem to hear Harry, "Ron!" That got his attention.

"Wha?" Harry pointed to the figure on the field, "Who is…Hermione?"

Hermione stood in the field waving up at them. Ron shot up and started to run down the stairs to the field. Harry picked up a nearby broom and used it to float down, landing in front of Hermione. Ron caught up huffing and puffing and smiled up at his wife.

"Hi honey" Hermione gave Ron a weak shove, "What was that for?"

"You said you'd be home by supper" Hermione said in annoyed tone. Ron laughed.

"I guess I did didn't I" Hermione sighed and smiled at him before greeting her husband with a kiss.

"Hermione why are you here?" Harry asked.

"And where's Hugo?"

"Your sister is taking care of him. McGonagall sent an owl for me. What's been going on here?" Hermione was referring to the article in the Daily Prophet about The Dragon Boy, "Is that who was in the train at the station? Are Rose and Albus ok?"

"They're fine dear. They've actually made friends with Alex" Ron explained.

"He's not dangerous is he? I mean I can only imagine what that Slytherin kid did but burning him?"

"It was just a stunt to get the article. He had some sort of fire protection charm on him" Harry sounded a tad annoyed as he said that, "What does McGonagall want?"

"Well…she asked me to be Headmaster"

* * *

"Hermione I'm just saying think about it!" Ron pleaded. The trio had made their way to Minerva's office and were discussing Minerva's offer.

"I have thought about it" Hermione defended herself.

"Who's going to look after Hugo if we're both working?"

"Am I supposed to just because I'm a woman?"

"That's not what I'm saying!"

Classic Ron and Hermione fight. Harry sat and watched them figure this out; Minerva watched from her side of the desk with a surprised expression.

"Hugo can live here with me!"

"Your not even Headmaster yet and you're getting our son into Hogwarts _early_!"

"If I may intervene, I'm sure arrangements could be made for the young Mr. Weasley to stay here. Although his admittance will have to wait until the start of next year" Minerva suggested.

"That's what I meant!" Hermione told Ron.

"Why didn't you just say that then?" Ron responded and with a sigh they both sat down. Minerva looked at both of them and waited a moment expecting more but she was met with anticipating glares.

"Well then Miss. Granger-" Ron cleared his throat, "Sorry old habit. Until the Board accepts you, Mrs. Weasley, as the new Headmistress I'd like to begin instructing you on how to do the job as soon as possible"

"Minerva, if I may ask, why now?" Harry leaned in on his seat. Minerva pointed to a sack behind her desk.

"Full of letters from concerned parents. After I finished reading the tenth one I decided I'm too old and too tired to deal with ignorant parents. Plus I was supposed to retire at the end of last year"

"Not that I don't appreciate this Headmistress –" Minerva interrupted and insisted Hermione called her by her first name, "but why me? I'm not even a professor"

"Yes you'll be doing that while we wait for the Board's decision. You have a substantial amount of O.W.L.s from what I remember so there will be no problem on that end"

"What would I be teaching?"

"History of Magic" The trio looked at each other, confused.

"Doesn't Professor Binns still teach that?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and I've been dying to see him replaced for centuries" Minerva admitted, "I've already discussed it with him and he's welcome to the idea of taking a break"

"There won't be a problem with me teaching Rose?" Hermione didn't want to jeopardise her daughter's education.

"As long as you don't favour her there shouldn't be a problem" Hermione smiled at her husband and squeezed his hand. Ron mirrored her actions. Harry was sceptical of the situation but kept it too himself for now. Maybe it was just his Auror training causing him to be paranoid.

Ron and Harry left so that Hermione and Minerva could discuss the more intricate parts of the job in private. To their surprise there was an owl waiting for on top of the gargoyle. It fluttered onto Harry's shoulder and he untied the scroll and passed the bird a Knut for its trouble. It flew off and Harry opened the scroll to read it.

"Please tell me its further instructions" Ron whined and Harry nodded.

"We're to meet him at the Ministry…an hour ago"

"Blimey! How long were we in there?"

"We'll have to get to Hogsmeade and apparate out from there as quickly as possible" Harry started walking before he started speaking. Ron followed at a quick pace behind him.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8 – The Slytherin Elite**

Professor Heston sat in the front of the class at his desk when the students began to flood in. He wore a bored expression while reading a book. Albus, Rose and Alex took seats in the back; Rose being the only one to take out her book _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_. Heston looked different then when Alex saw him in the Headmistress' office. His hair for one was now longer and in a ponytail down to his waist but still black. Heston was also wearing a dark Muggle suit with a white shirt, green tie and square glasses. Once everyone had settled in Heston closed his book and lifted his head to stare out at the students seated before him. His eyes focused when he saw Alex and a smirk stretched across his face.

"Well, well…It's Mr. Turin" Heston rose from his seat and the class turned to look at Alex, "Not gonna try and burn anyone today are you Mr. Turin?" Alex shook his head and hid his face with his hair, "Good because there's enough in this world to worry about. But of course you don't know about them yet and that's why you're here"

Professor Heston went on to teach the class but Alex still hung his head in shame.

"You alright Alex?" Albus asked.

"No ones ever going to forget that are they?" Alex asked referring to his reason for fame.

"Course not. It was legendary!" Liam had overheard and decided to add his two cents to the conversation. Albus and Rose glared at him, annoyed, so he turned back to listen to Heston.

"It'll fade from their memories eventually Alex. Something else will happen to distract them eventually" Rose said without looking over to Alex or stop writing down notes. Alex sighed, hoped she was right, and then lifted his head and listened to Heston speak.

"Now, you are all first year students and most of your work in this class will be writing papers. In fact…" Heston stuck his wand into his suit jacket to grab his wand and flicked it. Suddenly a cage appeared on his desk, containing a small blue creature.

"A pixie!" Cynthia, a girl from Ravenclaw squeeled, "It looks so cute!"

A moment after saying that, the pixie lunged at the side of the cage in the direction of Cynthia and hissed at her. Cynthia almost fell off of her stool but was caught by the students sitting beside her.

"Yeah, hardly 'cute'" Heston said once Cynthia was steady, "So for next class I would like you to write an essay on this creature in front of you" He walked to the chair behind his desk to pick up a cloak, "Be sure to include habitat, nature and Ministry classification. I'll see you all on Friday." The students looked at each other in confusion when Professor Heston began to leave the class.

"Umm…Professor…" Rose called out before Heston left the class. He turned around and began to stare at her, waiting for her to continue, "Where are you going? Class only just started…"

Heston shrugged, "Consider it over for today" And with a smile he walked out of class. The students all sat there for a few minutes before realising that he really wasn't coming back.

* * *

"Is he even allowed to do that? I don't think he's allowed to do that!" Rose complained. Albus, Alex and her were all walking down to the Great Hall from the D.A.T.D.A. tower. Most of the students had stayed in the class, afraid that Professor Heston would come back and punish those who left. Alex thought it would be a good idea to get started on the essay in the Great Hall, so Rose and Albus joined him. Rose still couldn't comprehend what Heston had done by the time they reached the doors to the Great Hall.

"I mean shouldn't the Head of a house be more responsible?" Albus began to chuckle at her constant chattering. His laughter stopped though, when they entered the Hall. Standing in front of them was a boy, blonde and wearing the Slytherin uniform. His face seemed to struggle to maintain its grouchy expression.

"Umm..who are you?" Albus asked. The boy held his head high in an attempt to look taller but his forehead didn't seem to go much higher than Albus' chin.

"I am Malfoy. Sc-Scorpius Malfoy" Some snickering could be heard from the Slytherin table. Rose and Alex saw a group of four older Slytherins sitting there watching this interaction; Albus kept his eyes on Scorpius.

"Oh, our parents know each other. Went to Hogwarts together, my name's Albus Potter. Nice to meet you" The gesture seemed to frighten Scorpius. He glanced over at the older group then quickly down at his feet. Albus could have sworn he was turning a little white.

"Come on Malfoy, what's taking so long!" A boy from the older group shouted out to them. Scorpius cringed and without notice pushed his way through Albus and walked out the door. The older group began to howl, disturbing everyone else in the Hall.

"Wow, Slytherins are even that cruel to their own housemates?" Alex thought out loud.

"Well there's a little more too it then that" James, Albus' older brother, walked up to them.

"James!" Albus said as a sort of greeting. He was surprised his brother was even talking to him; Albus had gotten the idea that James was going to avoid him all year.

"Do you know who they are James?" Rose asked him.

"They call themselves the Slytherin Elite. Think they're better than everyone, treat everyone like dirt. See the tall one?" Without trying to look like they were staring, the Gryffindor first years tilted their heads to see the tall boy with short brown hair, blue eyes and gaunt face. He sat on the table top with his feet resting on the bench, "He's Heston's younger brother, Joseph. Calls himself Jackal"

"Why Jackal?" Alex asked without taking his eye off Joseph.

"No idea. He's a fifth year. Been here longer then me. Anyway, he's their leader and Slytherin's Keeper. The other three are Quinn Tripe, Slytherin's Seeker, Stephen Draspire, Prefect, and Peter Deltin, rumor has it he's half giant. They go by Vixi, Stainless and Mediocre" The only girl in the group, Vixi, had slicked back black hair and a cruel smile that never seemed to go away. Stainless was the only one with glasses which were square and barely visible since he wore his cloak's hood so low. It was clear why there were rumours about Mediocre being half giant. He looked two heads taller then James sitting down and he had arms thicker than most tree trunks. He sat there with his head resting on his hand looking bored.

"They're recruiting and Alex is the target" Alex instantly asked why, "Beats me. Just thought you should know so something like what happened to Flint doesn't happen again"

"You're looking out for…us?" Albus almost said 'me' because he was confused as to why his brother was warning him. It seemed out of character from the brother he knew.

"You're all apart of Gryffindor now. And we've got to look out for each other" With that James left them in the Great Hall. The three of them sat down at the end of the Gryffindor table. Albus was still confused; did his brother's warning simply come from house loyalty? He never really thought James was like that but he'd never seen him at school before. Albus thought he liked this James better.

* * *

Scorpius had made his way to the library. He was afraid of going to the Slytherin common room just in case the Elite decided to go there. He hid amongst the many lines of bookshelves and sat on the floor leaning against one. His father had told him to make friends and he failed. Every other first year Slytherin were cruel; Scorpius couldn't even pretend to like them. When he heard of the Elite and that there was a chance to join them he thought he had a good chance of doing as his father asked. They too were cruel but Scopius knew it'd be worth accepting if it meant joining their ranks. Problem was Scorpius wasn't cruel, he was uncharacteristically kind for a Slytherin. If the Sorting Hat hadn't asked him which house he wanted to be in, Scorpius would probably be in Hufflepuff.

More then anything Scorpius wanted to be in Slytherin just like his dad; plus he really liked the color. But the Sorting Hat said he lacked the cunning, the wit, that self-preservation that was better maintained by cruelty. Scopius promised that he would do anything, become anything, to be in Slytherin. But he was breaking his promise by being too afraid to piss off the Dragon Boy. The Elite even gave him the spell that would protect him from the flames but the thought of being burned was far too terrifying. Tomorrow was the flying class with the Gryffindors. If Scopius could manage to get Alex to attack him there than maybe he still had a chance to get in and prove he belonged in Slytherin.

No, not if. Scopius decided he would do it because he did belong in Slytherin.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 – Flying Lessons**

Today was an exciting day for first year Gryffindors because it would be their first flying lesson. The posting was in the common room last night and it said their class was with the Slytherins. Alex had displayed his distaste for the pairing with a low growl.

"It shouldn't be that bad. These Slytherins are all talk" Oswald was telling them at breakfast that morning.

"Maybe to you! Those Tripe twins have been toying with my heart all week…" Xavier feigned fainting dramatically and everyone laughed at his performance.

"Well that's your own fault for mixing them up. Elena's the nice one" Valerie said.

"I'm confused I thought we were suppose to hate Slytherins?" Jacqueline asked displaying her confusion on her face.

"We hate the mean ones. Like Matilda or Kain" Oswald told her.

"Tripe…? Do they have an older sister?" Alex asked after gulping down a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Oh ya. Vixi, part of that Slytherin gang. Not as pretty as her sisters, kinda creepy lookin'" Xavier explained, "Seen her around have ya?" Alex nodded remembering what James had told him the day before.

The conversation changed to who knew how to fly the best. All the girls, except Molly, had claimed to have been riding for years. While only Albus had ever rode on a broom for the guys. Oswald and Xavier claimed to not be the sporty types and Liam has Muggle parents.

"What your excuse Alex?" Valerie asked. She enjoyed teasing the boys a little about their lack of skills.

"Never needed to know how to use a broom before" Alex said with a shrug.

There was a sudden loud fluttering sound in the Hall. Owls poured into the room to make their morning deliveries. One of the owls flew down to Albus carrying a scroll in its mouth. Albus retrieved it and bird flew off. He read it silently with a smile on his face.

"Is that from your Mum Albus?" Rose asked. Albus thought he heard some sadness in her voice.

"Yeah, reminding me to visit Hagrid for tea tomorrow" There was more but nothing Albus wished to share. He read the letter to himself once more while the others kept talking.

_Dear Al,_

_I'm so glad to hear you got into the house wanted! Gryffindor is lucky to have you. I hope James isn't too much of a bother. Give my love to Rose and Dad and Uncle Ron if you see them. And don't forget Hagrid is expecting you for tea on Friday. Can't wait to see you on the holidays._

_Much Love,  
Mom and Lily_

A few more owls came by the table dropping letters and care packages to all the Gryffindor students. Oswald also received a _Daily Prophet_ and spoke out shockingly upon opening it.

"Blimey! Again?" He turned the paper around to show everyone today's headline, Dragon Boy Goes Unpunished. Alex sighed and his shoulders sank.

"What was that thing you said yesterday about people forgetting?" Alex asked Rose.

"Eventually. I said eventually" Rose defended herself.

"Wow they're really gonna milk you for all you're worth eh?" Liam said, then got smacked by Gwen, "Ehhh! What was that for?" She shrugged.

"I wonder what Headmistress is going to do about this"

* * *

"What in Merlin's beard do you expect me to do about this?" Hermione whined. She was sitting behind the desk in the Headmaster's office and had just finished reading her hundredth something complaint from a parent. There was no end to the owls that came into the office. Minerva sat on the other side of the desk reading the _Daily Prophet_.

"This article certainly didn't help" Minvera commented and continued to read.

"Please Headmistress I don't know what to do. Should I send an owl back to all these parents?"

"First – stop calling me Headmistress, Minerva will do. Secondly – no that's a foolish idea. There will a representative from the Ministry here soon enough asking the Headmaster to attend a press conference at the Ministry. You'll go explain what we discussed and that's that" Minerva said all this without looking up from the paper, "I hope its Jonathan Stepsford. He's always so nice"

"You make this job sound easy" Hermione said, once again calm and reading through another letter.

"It never is and never should be"

The two of them were there all morning. Hermione had felt like she was a student again doing this much reading. Minerva finally stopped reading the paper and placed it rolled up on the desk.

"You know I don't think I've finished reading a paper in three or four decades" Hermione gave a soft chuckle. Minerva looked at the clock on her desk and rose unexpectedly.

"Come Mrs . Granger. Let's go see the first years flying lesson" Hermione lifted her head from a letter that read just like the last one.

"I'm sorry?"

"Gryffindor first years are starting flying lessons today. I haven't missed one since becoming Headmistress. Come, let's go watch"

Hermione didn't need a reason to take a break from the letters and she really wanted to see Rose. The two of them walked from the Headmaster's office to the library. Looking out of the windows from here they could see the first year students waiting eagerly by brooms laying flat on the grass.

* * *

A wrinkly old woman slowly levitated over toward the group of first years. Madame Hooch had been teaching flying to first years for over twenty years. Albus remembered his dad telling him stories of how he first learned to fly.

"Alright everyone, stand next to a broom" She called out when she stopped close enough to the laid out brooms on the grass. The Gryffindors stood next to the front row of brooms forcing the Slytherins to stand behind them.

"Now, put your hand over the broom," Everyone did, "And say 'UP!'"

"UP!" Most everyone screamed in unison. Most everyone from Gryffindor got it, except for Molly, Liam, Xavier and Oswald. To Hooch's and the Gryffindor's surprise everyone from Slytherin had their broom in their hand.

"Well that's quiet impressive. Five points for Slytherin" Despite being impressed, Madame Hooch kept a calm tone. As she went on to explain how they were going to fly the Slytherins began to brag.

"I'm not really surprised that we all got it" Katherine said with a sly smirk.

"Shame not everyone here has the same skills as us" Kain pretended to sound bored, even feigned yawned.

"I bet all the Slytherins could make it to that tower and back before the Gryffindors" it was Scorpius Malfoy who spoke up. He usually just sat quietly during class.

"No, I think they'd be too afraid of losing" Kain backed Scorpius up.

"We're just not stupid enough to let you bait us" Oswald said, finally picking up his broom out of frustration.

"Yeah like I said too afraid" Kain snickered. Albus and Alex burned to teach them a lesson but knew Oswald was right.

"Alright everyone mount your brooms. Go to the tower and back and no further. Take you time no need to rush" Everyone mounted their brooms, "When you're ready just push off from the ground"

Hooch already started drifting slowly up and toward the tower. All the Slytherin students burst off quickly, only being followed by the Gryffindor students who knew how to fly. Alex was surprised he was able to keep up with the others but he wasn't able to stay right side up. He kept spinning upside down flying right behind Scorpius.

"What's the matter dragon boy? Never flown before?" Scorpius called out. Once Alex got right side up and stayed that way he was looking as green as Scorpius' tie. Alex sped up beside Scorpius trying to get past him. The other Slytherin students now flew past them having already made it to the tower, along with Rose and Albus. Just as Scorpius and Alex reached the tower, Scorpius swung the back end of his broom to hit Alex. Luckily Alex was able to dodge by flying further away but that gave Scorpius the lead. On the way back Scorpius mockingly stuck his tongue out at Alex before landing.

Alex landed at a sprint and charged at Scorpius in fury.

"Are you crazy? You could have killed me!" Alex grabbed him by his collar. The other students tried to separate them but were unable to until Madame Hooch glided by and flicker her wand. The two were pushed apart but Alex was still furious. A puff of fire came from his nostrils.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa…Alex calm down" Albus stood in front of and grabbed him by the shoulders, staring him dead in the face.

"Yeah Dragon Boy, you'll for sure be expelled if you attack me" Scorpius mocked. Alex relaxed, sighed and another small puff of fire came out of his nose.

"That's enough of that you two! Stop it now or I'll see both in detention until the year is up" Hooch demanded. Alex and Scorpius stared at each other angrily until Alex turned around to go pick up his broom.

After everyone landed (Liam had managed to pass the tower and couldn't turn around) Madame Hooch had the students put away their brooms away in the broom shed. Since that was their only lesson for the day, Rose, Alex and Albus went exploring around the castle. They were somewhere on the fourth floor when Alex brought up what happened during the lesson.

"What's the deal with that Malfoy kid?"

"Don't know," Rose admitted, "He's been so quite until today"

"You don't think this has anything to do with the Elites do you? Maybe their trying to get Malfoy to do something?" Albus suggested. He was walking ahead of Alex and Rose, peering into every open door they passed.

"I wish I could teach him a lesson" Alex said bitterly.

"I'm sure you could as long as it doesn't involve breathing fire" Albus said with a chuckle.

"You may get your chance" Rose was looking ahead at a Slytherin student.

"Scorpius…" Alex distastefully said his name under his breath.

Once the three of them got close enough Scorpius took out his wand and pointed it at Alex.

"I challenge you to a duel. Right here and now"

"Done and done" Alex pulled out his want and pointed it at Scorpius.

"Wait you two you can be serious?" Rose ran between Scorpius and Alex holding her hands to stop them.

"Out of the way!" Scorpius yelled.

"Rose," Albus pulled her out of the way, "just let them have at it. Its not like either of them know any lethal spells"

"Ready?" Scorpius asked quickly and just as quickly Alex reposnded, "Yup"

"_Expelli-_"

"_Aguamenti!_" Alex yelled his incantation faster then Scorpius. A burst of water exploded from Alex's wand and struck Scorpius knocking him over. Rose and Albus looked more stunned then Scorpius. Scorpius tried to get up, but slipped back onto the ground. Alex walked over to him and offered a hand to help but Scorpius smacked it away.

"I don't need your help, Turin" He said once he stood "I'll get you next time" Scorpius spoke angrily and stormed off. When he turned around a corner Rose and Albus rushed to Alex and patted him on the back, bewildered at what he'd just done.

"That was brilliant!"

"That spell is supposed to be really advanced. How did you learn it?" Rose was extremely impressed.

"Charlie's been teaching me…just in case" Alex said rather grimly but he still had a smile on his face. He could help it looking at Albus and Rose's smiles. Albus kept commenting on how brilliant Alex was all the way to the common room, where he retold the story to anyone who would listen.

"Wow did that really happen, Alex?" Gwen asked in amazement. It wasn't just her; all the first years thought it was amazing. The only other person listening was James, but he didn't really believe it.

"Well I didn't cast it right. I'm pretty sure the water is supposed to come out in a stream. Mine was more of a splash"

"Think you could show us?" Liam asked while tugging on Alex' sleeve

"Yeah, I've got to see this" James said

Nervously Alex walked over to the fireplace to try and perform the spell. More people started watching which made him nervous.

"_Aguamenti_" Alex said it rather meekly resulting in the water spluttering out weakly from the tip of his wand. Everyone in the common room was laughing. Alex almost turned as red as his scales.

"Wait, wait. I can do it" Once everyone settled down Alex tried again.

"_Aquamenti_" Alex said it with more force this time and just like before the water came out with a splash, dousing the fire in the fireplace. Now everyone cheering and clapping and some older students were asking Alex to help them learn it. Alex was still as red as his scales but with a big smile on his face. By the end of the day the common room was soaked.

**A/N:**** Edited and cleaned 30/07/2011. Details on my profile.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 – Thorn and Greybeard**

It had been a few weeks since Alex humiliated Scorpius in a dual but that didn't stop Scorpius from insulting him at any opportunity. Scorpius seemed determined to make Alex feel miserable. He'd been getting better at insulting Alex too; waiting until teachers weren't around so he didn't cost Slytherin any more points. Alex had been explaining this all to Charlie during his detention period on Friday evening.

"As long as you don't lose your temper on him – "

"I know" Alex was standing with his arm outstretched and wand in hand. Charlie was helping Alex master the water charm in a room on the seventh floor. Charlie said no one would bother them up here.

"Well try it again" Alex nodded

"_Aguamenti_" Alex said it with enough conviction to get the same splash of water he was able to get last week. With a sigh he rested his arm at his side. Charlie stood behind him, thinking.

"You never did tell me where you got that wand"

"Oh – it was made for me. By-by the people who gave me the scales…" Alex said quietly, "Maple ten inches…dragon heart string" Charlie could hear the sadness that easily crept into Alex's voice whenever they started talking about what had happen to him. It was because of this that Charlie decided to help him with his school work until he was ready to talk.

"Maybe we can take you to Ollivander's this weekend. See if that's the right wand for you" This seemed to lift Alex's spirits. He turned to Charlie with a curious smile.

"The old man in Diagon Alley you mean?"

Charlie nodded, "Just have to clear it with the Headmistress first"

"Cool" Alex said and his smile widened.

Charlie ended the detention there, about five minutes early. Alex was excited to tell Albus and Rose he'd be getting a wand from Ollivander. Not that they ever asked where he got his wand. The question would probably come up now though, Alex thought. It wasn't until Alex was in front of the Fat Lady did he realise he wouldn't have the money to pay for a new wand. Alex had left his money in North America's branch of Gringotts and didn't know if it was transferred.

"Are you coming in or not?" The Fat Lady asked him.

"Umm…be back in a second" Alex decided to go ask Charlie. With a bit of fear that'd he'd be caught and get in trouble, Alex ran back to the room. Luckily it was on the same floor. He had gotten there quickly and it looked like Charlie was still in there since Alex saw flickering candlelight coming from the crack of the slightly open door.

"-you could have told me!" Alex heard someone shout from the other side of the door.

"Would it have made a difference? Your job was to get him here safely" Alex recognised that as Charlie's voice. Trying to not make a sound, Alex knelt by the door and opened it just a little bit more so his right eye could peer through.

"To a place where there may very well be someone trying to kill him?" Alex could see two red heads arguing. Alex decided the other person yelling must be Rose's father.

"That's just a presumption McGonagall has. There is no actual-" Alex saw Harry in there too. He slid into view and gave something to Charlie – looked like a piece of paper. Alex saw Charlie's mouth move but he didn't hear what was said.

"Yes, meeting with an identified member of Noctis" Harry said.

"Noctis?" Charlie asked

"Oh, stop pretending Charlie!" Ron yelled

"I'm not pretending I've never heard of them in my life" Charlie snapped at his brother.

"They're the group that abducted Alex"

Alex gasped causing the three adults behind the door to look in his direction but Alex was no longer there. He ran back to Gryffindor tower as fast as he could, knowing he had just heard something he wasn't suppose to know. Problem now was that he did.

* * *

Next morning students through out the castle were enjoying the day off however they pleased. Rose and Albus were eating breakfast and were planning on visiting Hagrid again this week. Last week's visit was cut short when a salamander for Hagrid's class got out and nearly burnt his hut down. Hagrid was yelling something about 'not again' as Albus and Rose walked back to the school. The two of them were hoping Alex could come meet Hagrid since he had detention last week.

"Where is Alex anyway? It's not like him to miss a meal" Rose asked.

"You've been watching him eat have ya Rose?" Xavier teased but Rose ignored him.

"Was still asleep when I left" Albus told her. Content with the answer Rose went back to eating until a loud roar interrupted the meal. The doors to the Great Hall flew open followed by a burst of flames. Out of the flames shot a pile of robes that collided with the floor and slide halfway to the head table. Students rushed to the entrance but only dared to peek at what stood there. Albus was the only one to walk out onto the path the flame just took. He looked at the entrance and met Alex's gaze but his face wasn't twisted with anger like when he attacked Flint. Instead Alex looked blissfully content with the current situation. Then something seemed to snap in Alex; he lifted his hand to cover his mouth and tears welled up in his eyes. He quickly ran to the pile of flaming robes which only now began to scream and roll.

Alex looked tormented at the sight just as everyone else was. Without saying a word Alex slashed his wand through the air and doused the flames with conjured water before quickly turning and running away. Fear had a solid grip on most of the students until Professor Odette ran into the Great Hall and checked on the burnt pack of robes. She rolled it over revealing Scorpius Malfoy, who lay silent on the wet floor. The fire ate through his left sleeve and fed on his skin all the way up to his neck. Odette was waving her wand, muttering incantations until more professors arrived to take Scorpius to the hospital wing.

* * *

"Merlin's ghost what happened in here?" James had arrived in the Great Hall after most of the students had cleared out. Albus sat on the floor and was almost as white as a ghost. Harry knelt in front of him with a hand on his shoulder. James walked up behind his dad and stared down at his little brother.

"It's like it wasn't even him" Albus proclaimed. He'd been repeating that over and over to his father who sat there and tried to console him. The glimpse Albus had of Alex's face just after he attacked Scorpius looked like someone Albus had never seen before. Looked like someone who was happy to cause harm. Uncle Ron and another Auror had gone with some professors to find Alex. Harry tried asking him if he knew where Alex went but Albus could only repeat himself.

"It's like it wasn't even him"

* * *

Rumours spread like wild fire that night about where Alex had gone and why he attacked Scorpius Malfoy. Some say they saw Scorpius passing by Alex and Alex just attacked him for no reason. Others say Scorpius said something to him before hand. There were rumours that he was already off school grounds and was headed to the nearest dragon reserve. Even more ridiculous were the rumours that the Aurors killed him on sight.

Most the rumours were put to rest the next morning when Alex was seen going to and from classes. Alex wasn't allowed to talk to anyone and was being escorted everywhere by two Aurors. Albus had recognised one of them to be the one who escorted Alex on his first day; the one with a long black ponytail. That same man had told Albus not to talk to Alex during classes. Alex didn't look at anyone during or between classes and was no longer allowed to eat in Great Hall. Scorpius Malfoy made a full recovery in a day; Madame Pomfrey had described his injuries as minor. When he arrived at the Slytherin table for breakfast he had enjoyed showing off the bandages up his left arm to his neck.

Alex had made headlines again but this time the _Daily Prophet_ had an interview with Hogwarts newest Headmistress, Professor Hermione Weasley. She explained that the safest place to keep the boy was at Hogwarts but that didn't go over well with student's parents. The article noted that the new Headmistress spoke with a shaky voice and went on to question how she had obtained such a prestigious position. Former Headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall, gave no comment on the matter. Wizards throughout Great Britain found this to be a great topic of discussion over the next few months. Some even became advocates to see to it that the boy was kicked out of Hogwarts, imprisoned or even put to death.

* * *

Albus and Rose had gone just over two months without speaking directly to Alex. He was under constant guard; even in the lavatories the guards stood in front of his stall. Once they found where Alex was sleeping, since he was no longer allowed into the Gryffindor tower, Rose thought of a way to communicate with him. During the night the Aurors stood (or rather sat while playing wizard's chess) guard of a room on the seventh floor but during the day it was completely unguarded. During this time Rose or Albus would sneak in and leave a note for Alex.

_Alex,  
We need to know what happened. Why did you attack Scorpius? Why did you run?  
Leave a note for us where you found this one. We'll pick it up and leave another when the room is unguarded during the day._

_Albus and Rose_

The next day Alex gave no signs of receiving their note in class. But when Albus went to check during a break he found a note waiting for him.

_I was being controlled! I don't know who it was, but I didn't attack Malfoy on purpose. My vision went fuzzy and I felt like I was flying. When I saw Malfoy it was like the flames jumped out on their own. When my vision came back and I saw what I had done I was too afraid to stay. Please believe me! I know it sounds ridiculous but please! I have no one else. I'm not even allowed to talk to Charlie._

_PS Don't use real name just in case someone finds these letters. Burnt the last one._

Albus had believed him, remembering the way he seemed to change afterwards. Rose was reluctant at first but had believed Albus when he explained Alex's change in demeanour. They had spent the next few weeks looking for any kind of spell that was meant for controlling people in books from the library but had turned up empty. And they knew asking a teacher would just raise suspicion. Christmas holidays were right around the corner and Albus didn't think they had the means to search at home so before leaving they left Alex one more note.

_We'll be going home for the holidays and we don't think we'll be able to find much there. We still need to know who cast the spell if we are going to prove you're innocent. If it's possible do some digging while there are less people in the school. I know this will sound stupid but try talking to Torch. He may have seen someone behind you or something. If you can't, we'll try talking to him when we get back._

_Thorn and Greybeard_

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11 - Christmas**

Scorpius had done it; he had gotten into the Elite. While he was still in the infirmary, Stainless, also a Slytherin Prefect, had come to him to tell him he was in. Told Scorpius he was now Torch; Scorpius didn't find that too amusing. Weeks of humiliation and poor insults finally paid off and yet Scorpius felt unsatisfied. He hadn't said a word to Alex on that day, just glared at him in the hall. Maybe that was enough to push him off the edge, Scorpius tried to tell himself, but that didn't seem to be the answer. Scorpius was still having a hard time remembering exactly what happened; Madame Pomfrey said that was normal. He remembered seeing Alex, then a smile, then a bright orange flash before being pushed through the air. Next thing Scorpius remembered was waking up in the infirmary.

Madame Pomfrey assured him his memory would come back in time so Scorpius tried not to let it bother him. Scorpius' parents even came to see him once they read what had happened in the Daily Prophet. His dad had a loud conversation with Professor Weasley who had become headmistress the day of the attack. It was difficult but Scorpius had managed to convince his parents to let him stay at Hogwarts over the holidays. Now that Scorpius was an Elite he was privy to the knowledge of the entire group. Mediocre was the only other member staying for the holidays so he was in charge of showing Scorpius all the secret passages in the school the group knew about.

"So are you actually a half-giant like everyone says you are?" Mediocre just glared at him. Scorpius was quickly finding out that Mediocre didn't talk a lot. He silently led Scorpius along an enclosed narrow stone path. This secret passage started just outside the Slytherin common room, behind a suit of armor; Mediocre had to crouch to enter and walk through it. Scorpius didn't know where it led but didn't bother asking, knowing there would be no response. The passage opened up, allowing Mediocre to stand. When Scorpius got to him he realised they were at the end of the path staring at a solid stone wall.

"Umm…what now?" Scorpius looked up at the large boy. Mediocre glanced down at him then took out his wand.

"Pay attention" Mediocre spoke in a deep voice. He pointed his wand at the stone wall and said, "I promise to be as cunning as thee"

The stone wall split in half and began to slide apart. Once fully open, Mediocre walked through and Scorpius followed him. The room it led to was quite long; as long as a table from the Great Hall Scorpius guessed. The ceiling domed and allowed plenty of room for Mediocre. In front of them was a desk facing the length of the room. Behind it was a leather cushioned arm chair and above it a painting of an old bald man with a short pointy grey beard.

"Is that Salazar Slytherin?" Scorpius recognised the portrait to be the same one as in the Grand Staircase. Mediocre answer him with a grunt which Scorpius took to mean yes. The length of the room only extended to Scorpius' left as he entered. Its walls were lined with bookshelves although they were sparse with books. In between the bookshelves were tables and chairs. It reminded Scorpius of a library only smaller and decorated by a Slytherin.

"We call it the Slytherin Sanctuary. We only allow members of the Elite in here" Mediocre explained. Scorpius thought he heard a hint of a Scottish accent but he couldn't tell. There were paintings of students on the wall; Scorpius only recognised four of them. Before he had time to ask Mediocre was already answering his question.

"Former members of the Elite" He pointed to one of a gaunt faced, blue eyed boy with light brown hair in a short ponytail "The founder, Geoffrey Heston" Under his portrait, engraved in the silver frame, it read _Argent_.

"Professor Heston?" Mediocre nodded, "He looks so different" Scorpius knew Heston to have black hair; he never paid attention to his eye color. The boy in the portrait suddenly changed; his hair grew long and blonde. He stuck his tongue out at Scorpius.

"He's a Metamorphmagus" Scorpius looked back at Mediocre and made his confusion know through his expression "A mage who can change his appearance at will"

"Blimey…" Scorpius said quietly and turned back to the portrait. Professor Heston's younger self now had Slytherin silver hair and green eyes; he was laughing cheerfully.

"So is everyone in the Elite some sort of special wizard?" Scorpius asked.

"Members don't have to be anything like a Metamorphmagus. Argent was the only one. Most members simply excel at Quidditch or academia or have an excellent social standing. Some are Animagi or half-breeds, like me"

"So you are half-giant!" Scorpius said a little so excitedly, earning him a grim stare from Mediocre. Scorpius feigned clearing his throat and walked down the length of the room until he came across a blank portrait. Engraved at the bottom of the silver portrait was _Torch_.

"So…why was I accepted?" Scorpius asked only now realizing he wasn't any of the things Mediocre had listed off.

"People who have done unlikely things are accepted as well. In 2005 we accepted a member for keeping Peeves in a jar for a term. You were engulfed in the dragon boy's flame and lived"

"But so was Flint…"

"Flint did it for family reasons – but that is what gave the idea to Jackal"

"So whoever got Alex to burn them first would have been accepted?" Mediocre nodded and Scorpius continued to stare at the blank portrait "That doesn't sound very…Elite?"

Mediocre cracked a small smile, "That's what I said. But the boss disagrees. Says it takes a certain kind of determination to get burned on command. Says your scars make you even more unique." Mediocre's smile faded as quickly as it came.

Scorpius pulled at the bandages on his neck revealing the scar tissue. The way it twisted among his undamaged skin reminded Scorpius of the flame that left it. Scorpius had that unsatisfied feeling again but pushed it to the back of his mind. He had got what he wanted, that's all that mattered.

"Now what?" Mediocre shrugged, "...Want to play chess?"

"…sure"

* * *

Alex had been held prisoner in his new room ever since classes ended for the holidays. Professor Weasley had come in, before leaving for the holidays, to thank him for cooperating and to ask him to have patience. Alex's patience started to wear thin after he finished all his homework and read through _The Standard Book of Spells _and _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection _in an attempt to find a controlling spell. The Auror guards stood outside the room and there was no way of getting past them, short of attacking them and Alex didn't need anymore of that kind of attention. Alex had lost hope about finding information from Scorpius, until Christmas morning.

Kevin was one of the Aurors guarding Alex's room. Alex recognised the young Auror from his first day at Hogwarts. It was Kevin who brought him just what he needed.

"A gift?" Alex held the poorly wrapped box in his hands. Kevin had just come in to give it to him.

"An owl dropped it by just now. It's from the Potters. I know you're not supposed to communicate with anyone but I thought it might lift your spirits" Kevin said with a smile. Alex stared at him, waiting for him to leave, but he just stood there smiling.

"Umm…"

"Go ahead open it"

"Mind if I open it by myself?"

"Sorry but I've got to check what's inside" Kevin's smile faded slightly as he gently waved his finger in the air.

"It's from your boss. How can it possibly be something harmful?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow. Kevin put a finger to his chin and thought for a moment.

"Hmm…good point. Well, enjoy it, whatever it is" Kevin waved and walked out the door. Alex heard him lock it from the outside. He took the gift and placed it on the bed, taking off the note attached to the top. _From the Potters_, it read. Alex smiled sadly. It was nice that they thought of him but it only reminded him he was a prisoner. Alex unwrapped it, revealing a shiny silvery cloth with a second note on top of it. Alex picked up the second note.

_Rawhide,  
This is my father's invisibility cloak. Managed to find and snatch it after a few days of searching. This should help with sneaking out to talk to Torch. Just be careful with it. My dad's had it for years so it might not be as effective. There's also some biscuits my grand mum made._

_Greybeard_

Alex's feeling of sadness flew out the window (not that there was a window in this room) as he finished reading the note. He picked up the silvery cloth and threw it over his shoulders. Upon looking down he noticed he couldn't see his feet at all. The cloak's condition seemed to be perfect to Alex. Even with the cloak Alex still needed to somehow get past the locked door. Alex slowly munched on some delicious chocolate biscuits on his bed, while thinking of a plan.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 - Smile**

Kevin stood, leaning against the door to his charge's room. His partner, Williamson, sat in a chair next to the door quietly and disturbingly still. Williamson had been an Auror for at least twenty years but Kevin knew nothing about him other than that. His hair was long and in a ponytail like Kevin's only his was mostly grey with strands of less grey which clashed with his dark skin. There was another long night ahead of wizard's chess and recasting anti-sleep charms on each other. Kevin felt sorry for Alex; kid was only twelve and was already dangerous enough to warrant two Auror guards. Mr. Potter just did it to keep the parent's of other student's off of the Headmistress' back. Kevin couldn't believe that anyone could really blame the kid. Not like most people knew what he looked like since the _Daily Prophet_ had yet to get a photo of him. The paper did have a good description of the kid but it was the fire breathing most people cared about. Which really isn't the kid's fault but of course the paper neglected to mention that he was abducted and forcefully transformed into his current form. People didn't seem to care about the whole story though.

There was a knock from behind the door so Kevin unlocked it to swing it open.

"What can I do ya for Alex?" Kevin had tried his best to be nice and keep the kid happy but that was hard seeing as his orders were to stop him from talking to students; some of which were friends.

"I need to go to the washroom" Kevin also enjoyed that Alex spoke with an American accent. He still wasn't used to people calling it 'the loo'. Williamson got up from his seat and followed Kevin and Alex to the seventh floor lavatories. Alex, like usual, walked with his head down; his hair covering his eyes. Luckily no one else was in the washroom. Last time a student saw Alex walking in he ran and Kevin could see that affected Alex. Alex chose the stall closest to the entrance, Williamson was washing his hands, and Kevin was leaning against the wall opposite of Alex's stall. Alex usually took a while in there, but Kevin wasn't judging. Must be annoying having to go when you know someone is just outside listening. Kevin never thought this would be an assignment for an Auror when he first joined. Kevin heard the door to the washroom open and close. Kevin smirked as he thought how odd two older men waiting in the washroom must look to a student. But no one came in. Kevin shrugged and thought they must have seen him and left. Then he realized that students shouldn't be out and about at this time of night. Williamson seemed to take notice too; he walked over to the door to see if anyone was in the hallway.

"Nothing" he muttered but in this washroom it sounded louder.

"Alright. Come on Alex let's head back" Kevin said but he didn't heard any movement from inside the stall. Kevin walked over and knocked on the stall door, calling out Alex's name again. When there was nothing to be heard again, Kevin peaked up the stall door and saw no feet. Lowering his head even further he saw that no one was in the stall, or any stall it seemed.

"How in the hell!" Kevin yelled. Williamson had already checked the rest of the washroom. Alex had slipped past them and out the door without Kevin seeing anything.

* * *

Alex's heart was pounding in his chest harder then he ever imagined it could beat. Between crawling out from under the stall underneath a piece of cloth, thinking Kevin could see him the whole time, and running for dear life once he made it out the door, Alex thought his heart might just give out. But he didn't stop running. Underneath the invisibility cloak no one could see him anyway and he figured if someone heard him running they would think it was one of the ghosts. Alex saw Peeves with the Baron somewhere on the second floor, looking around as he ran passed. Not even ghosts could see through this thing; Alex thought it was amazing. The thought to just run away from Hogwarts entirely had crossed his mind when he was thinking of a plan in his room. But Alex didn't think he had a good chance of blending in well anywhere. At this time of night Alex was sure Scorpius would be asleep in the Slytherin common room. Not that Alex had a chance of getting inside but he would wait until Scorpius came out; all night if he had to.

Luckily Alex knew where it was, having seen some Slytherin enter it when he got lost on the way to Potions once. Torches lined the dungeon walls, lighting it up nicely even at night. Alex sat against a wall in the area he knew the Slytherin common room entrance to be. Wrapped up in the invisibility cloak just in case anyone came by, Alex sat and began to wait patiently. He wondered how long it took Kevin to realise he was gone. Must have been shortly after he got through the door, Alex thought. Alex wasn't waiting long when he heard a noise. It scared him after listening to nothing but silence. It sounded like a suit of armor had moved. There was only one that Alex could see and it hadn't budged. Then Alex saw someone walk out from behind the armor. Obviously a Slytherin student, Alex thought, wearing the uniform white shirt and pants with a green tie and blonde hair. Alex stood and walked up to the unsuspecting student. First thing Alex did was grab his arm and put his other hand over the student's mouth so he didn't scream. Then he pushed the student into the wall where the torches showed his face in better light. Scorpius screamed anyway even though it sounded like a muffled mess under Alex's hand. Alex shushed him until he stopped making noise. Scorpius' eyes were wide with fear and Alex felt him shaking.

"Calm down. Please, I just want to talk to you"

"Whmm urr ooo" Alex removed his hand from Scorpius' mouth, "Who are you?" Scorpius asked again in an angry whisper. Alex had almost forgotten he was invisible and that to Scorpius it must just look like two hands came out of no where and grabbed him.

"Don't scream" Alex moved the cloak off his head. Scorpius gasped and Alex was afraid he was about to let out another scream so he slapped his hand over Scorpius' mouth again. Sure enough there was another muffled scream.

"I said don't scream! I just want to talk Scorpius. You have nothing to be afraid of" Scorpius seemed to calm down and relax so Alex took his hand off his mouth again.

"Nothing to be afraid of? You just pounced me from out of nowhere!" Scorpius spoke harshly but quietly.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry about everything. Listen I think I was being controlled"

"Convenient excuse" Scorpius snapped at Alex. Alex sighed angrily but thought he probably deserved that.

"Just tell me what you remember. Did you see anything? Like someone with their wand out?"

"I don't remember! Just let me go"

"You must remember something. So talk!"

"I really don't remember much! Honestly, one moment I see you in the hall the next I'm in the hospital wing"

"Anything else? Come on Scorpius think." Alex pleaded. Scorpius closed his eyes and scrunched his face.

When he opened them again he said, "You smiled"

"I what?"

"You smiled at me. That's all I remember seeing before I woke up. You smiled, then the flames, then flying through the air, then waking up in the infirmary. I swear that's all I remember"

Alex let him go and shrouded himself back under the invisibility cloak.

"Thank you" Scorpius didn't move but frantically looked around, confused as to how Alex just disappear, "Again, I'm sorry"

Alex ran out of the dungeons and kept running until he got up to the third floor. Walking slowly now he thought over what Scorpius had said. Wasn't much but the smile was enough to convince himself he was being controlled. No matter how much Alex hated Scorpius for being a petty little jerk, he never took joy out of hurting anyone. When Alex had finally got to his room on the seventh floor, his two Auror guards were no where to be seen. Luckily the door was unlocked so Alex let himself in, hide the invisibility cloak and thought of what to tell them when they got back.

**A/N: Edited and cleaned 26/10/2011. Details on my profile.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 -Poker Face  
**

"Wake up!" A harsh whisper caused Albus to stir in his sleep. With a groan he turned away from the noise and pulled the sheets tighter against himself. Suddenly the covers disappeared leaving Albus defenceless against the cold air. With all the charms and enchantments keeping the Burrow standing Albus always wondered why there wasn't one to defend against the bitter winter cold. The Weasley family had spent another Christmas together at the family home. Albus always enjoyed seeing everyone and having Grandmum Weasley's amazing home cooked meals. Now, only Albus, James, Rose, Hugo, and Lily remained in the big house with Ginny and their grandparents. Harry and Ron were called away to work and Hermione had to get to Hogwarts before the rest of the students returned. Albus was enjoying a room to himself after sharing with all his cousins. Except now of course. Albus rolled over to discover the intruder was Rose. She knelt next to his bed with a book in her hands wearing her pyjama bottoms and a red knit jumper with an R on it.

"I found it! I found it!" Rose was still speaking in a harsh whisper.

"What?" Albus grunted with his face half into his pillow.

"I feel so stupid for having missed it before. I've only read about them nearly a hundred times" Rose spoke quickly almost like she was out of breath.

Albus turned his head to Rose "Read about what?" he asked with an annoyed tone to his voice.

"The Unforgivable Curses. Three spells of the Dark Arts. And one of them can control people!"

Albus rose and propped himself on his elbows, "You think that's what happened to Alex?"

"It has to be! Look…" Rose flipped open the book in her arms, stopping on a page near the end and pointing to a paragraph. Without giving Albus a chance to read it she began to explain, "'The Imperius curse is one of the Unforgivable curses and places the victim completely under the caster's control'"

"That sounds exactly right" Albus commented, "What do you mean you've read it before?"

Rose closed the book and held up the cover to Albus. Albus stared at it, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim light coming in from the hallway. _Defensive Magical Theory _by Wilbert Slinkhard.

"Where'd you find that book?"

"In my dad's old room. My guess is he never even opened it judging from all the dust" Rose told him, "Anyone who's caught casting it goes to Azkaban"

"But we still don't know who cast it"

"Maybe Alex found something out" Rose sighed and put the book down.

* * *

"Alex, tell us now!"

Kevin had sent an owl to Harry and Ron almost as soon as Alex had disappeared on him. Alex had failed to come up with a believable excuse to tell Kevin when he finally returned to the room to find Alex sitting on the bed. So instead of rambling together a lie he'd get caught in, Alex simple didn't speak. It was driving Ron crazy, causing him to yell but Harry was more relaxed and simply watched Alex's reactions while leaning next to the door to the room.

Alex hung his head in the usual fashion; just enough so his hair could cover his eyes. Ron grabbed Alex's chin a few times to see the look in his eyes; looking for signs of guilt. Since he was just a child Harry had been holding off on using the interrogation methods he'd been taught. He had considered using Veritaserum but he knew the new Headmistress wouldn't approve the use of that potion on her students. Ron had finally stopped berating Alex with questions he didn't bother to answer. Ron huffed like he was out of breath a few times then just walked outside.

"Did anyone see you when you were out?" Harry asked not moving from his position. Alex shook his head, "Good. We'll let this go for now then" Harry moved for the door but turned to say one last thing, "We're just trying to protect you and we can't do that when you're off running on your own."

Harry closed the door behind him and joined Ron, Kevin and Williamson. Williamson had he usual expression whereas Kevin looked worried and sick; ashamed that he lost his charge.

"Run it by me again." Ron was talking to Kevin, "He slipped passed you in the bathroom and made it to the door without you noticing!"

"Yessir..." Kevin's head hung low.

"He's a kid, Kevin! It's not like he can just turn invisible and walk out of there! He doesn't know that kind of magic!" Ron exclaimed.

Harry thoughts jumped back to when he was Alex's age and something in his brain clicked.

* * *

Alex knew Harry was lying to him. People needed protecting _from_ Alex; not the other way around. Alex wished he could tell Harry his thoughts on what happened but he knew it would just sound like a child trying to get out of trouble by blaming someone else. He'd need more evidence first but there wasn't a lot of that to be found.

Harry came back into the room with the rest of the Aurors. Harry had his wand out and Alex thought for a moment they were going to start interregating him with magic. Instead Harry extended his arm and cried an incantation.

"_Accio Invisibility Cloak_"

"NO!" Alex scream as he leapt from his spot on the bed. But nothing in the room moved and all eyes were on Alex. He closed his eyes tight and cursed himself in his thoughts.

"Now that was an interesting reaction" Harry said.

**A/N:**** Short one here but I really just wanted to get one out. Didn't proof read this one but I did go over and clean up previous chapters. Full details on my profile. I might even rewrite/add more to this later but right now its late and I NEED to go to bed. Badly...  
FYI I enjoy reviews :D OH and thanks for reading :D  
**


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